"...and that little ones is why you never pull on a cat's tale." The cat explained as he sat proudly.

The fox rolled his eyes before smiling at the three ponies. "Look. The point is, we're here to help the prince. And figure out basically the same thing as your sisters."

"Ya mean, why none of the girls remember him?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Exactly." The fox replied. "Any questions?"

"Can you help Scoots fly?" Sweetie asked.

The fox smiled and brushed up against her. "Such a sweet child. Don't worry. We can do that easily."

"Yeah. We just need a little something from you first." The cat added.

"And what's that?" Bloom asked.

The fox turned to Bloom with a smile. "For you to become my…" He paused and tapped his chin. "What's the word I'm looking for? Not quite a wife… but a…"

"Mistress?" Sweetie gulped.

"Close enough." The fox shrugged.

"And what about you?" Bloom asked the cat.

The cat thought for a moment. "I actually need two things. One from each of you." He replied motioning to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "Part of your family's orchard…. And for Scootaloo to… become queen."

"What!?!?!?!" The three gasped as well as Twilight who had just arrived.

"Oh look. The stalker arrived." The fox teased.

"First of all, I'm not a stalker." Twilight huffed.

"Not any more." The cat laughed.

"Second… what do you mean for her to become queen?" Twilight asked, glaring at the cat.

Thinking it over he shrugged. "Ok. Maybe queen is a bit of a reach. How about… giving birth to the prince's child?"

"But… isn't he going to be my dad?" Scootaloo asked.

"According to the law… there's nothing wrong with it." The fox pointed out.

"In fact it's rather common for royals to mate within their family." The cat added. "More so for the adopted family."

The three girls looked to Twilight who blushed and looked away. "They… do have a point. It's actually why Celestia wanted to adopt me at one time."

"Would the prince still be able to marry Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked.

"Who?..." The cat asked before waving it off. "Oh yeah. Sure. So do we have a deal?"

Sweetie bit her lip and looked off towards home as did Bloom. "We can still be with our families… right?" Sweetie asked.

"Sure. You'll just be spending a lot of time with us." The fox replied.

"What would you do with the trees?" Bloom asked.

"Mostly make rum and other drinks. But don't worry. The trade off will be worth it." The cat replied.

"I doubt it." Twilight huffed. "You sound more like a conman to me."

The cat smirked. "Conman, trickster. I've heard them all. Heck, my grandfather was once a king thanks to his tricks."

"Who or what are you?" Twilight asked as her horn started to glow.

"Here we go again." The fox sighed.

Rainbow landed on a cloud as she looked over the beauty of her mental sky. It felt like forever since she felt this calm. Sitting back, she glanced at the mound of cloud behind her. She wasn't sure if it'd work. But then again. It did help her before.

"So… I cleared the sky." She sighed happily. "In record time, might I add… is there anything I'm forgetting?"

There was a moment of silence that caused Rainbow's ears to droop before a response came. "Maybe not something. But somepony."

She let out a relieved sigh. "You know… it's kinda funny. Twilight's the brainy one. And here I am. A mare of action. Talking to a mental recreation of a childhood safe place."

"Is that all our time was to you?" The voice asked.

Rainbow thought for a moment and hung her head. "Up to now… I thought so… but… I'm starting to remember this place better. I… remember…" She gasped as her eyes shot open. Turning she saw a young colt smiling at her. Her heart raced as her wings quivered.

"You know what you have to do." He said looking at the cloud.

"But you…"

"You don't need this place any more." He countered. "Not when our time together has returned to you."

Rainbow got up and looked at the cloud before turning to him. "There's one thing I regret not doing."

"Save it for the real thing." He laughed. "Now hurry before that weird smoke comes back."

"Right." She sighed remembering that she still had to deal with. To be honest, she didn't know if she was under the influence or if her body was getting tired of not scratching that particular itch. But whatever it was. She was going to take care of that… later. For now, she flew into the air and came back down, clenching her eyes closed as she impacted with the cloud.

Opening her eyes, Rainbow smiled at seeing the prince sitting with his back to her. But found at seeing who he was with.

"Mental note. Prison is too good for these two." The prince thought as he sat and listened to the couple talking about something they called a changeling and how they thought about hooking their daughter up with it. "Can I get Auntie Luna to blast them to the moon? Or maybe some remote island?"

Rainbow wondered if she should feel pity for him for having to deal with them alone. Or angry with them for… everything basically. Rainbow sat next to the prince, deciding that for now at least, it was best to get them home.

Author's Note

I aimed this chapter around the two because I have an idea for something later. Though I may have given a fairly big hint. Don't worry. The twist will come.